From boom to bitcoin: A device maker’s surprising pivot

Plus: Former governors warn that Medicaid cuts would have dire consequences

June 24, 2025 Check out STAT+

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By Theresa Gaffney Morning Rounds Writer and Podcast Producer

Good morning. Today's the three year anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that ended the constitutional right to an abortion. And in New York, it's election day for the Democratic mayoral primary. There's sure to be a lot of news throughout the day, but here's what we're starting with.

infectious disease What happens with a 'choose-your-own-adventure' approach to vaccines Molly Ferguson for STAT Since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has taken over HHS, he has fired the entirety of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, replaced them with individuals with far less notable credentials, and taken the unprecedented step of rewriting Covid-19 vaccination recommendations, without input from experts and with a disregard for existing science. Every move seems to bring the country closer to the balkanization of vaccination policy, STAT's Helen Branswell writes.  "What's going to happen is [people] who don't trust the new ACIP are going to look elsewhere, but the question is, where's elsewhere?" said Heidi Larson, who has spent the past 20 years studying the decline in vaccine confidence. Professional organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics will likely play a more prominent role in vaccine recommendations going forward. But many questions remain, including whether or not insurers will continue covering vaccines. Read more from Helen on the uncertain future of American vaccine policy. (And did you see this? Last night, Sen. Bill Cassidy called to delay the next ACIP meeting in a challenge to Kennedy. Read more from Chelsea Cirruzzo.) reproductive health Abortions are increasing post-Dobbs Despite the proliferation of state-level abortion bans after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade exactly three years ago today, the total number of abortions that occurred in the U.S. was higher in 2024 than it was in the two previous years. There were 1.06 million abortions in 2023, and 1.14 million in 2024, according to a new report from the Society of Family Planning. While the majority of abortions still occur in-person, more and more have been delivered through telehealth, especially via physicians in states with shield laws. Last year, a quarter of all abortions were delivered through telehealth.  Experts knew that telemedicine options would fill some sort of gap in the wake of the Dobbs decision, but as reproductive rights scholar David Cohen wrote on Bluesky after the latest report, "almost nobody" expected an increase like this. The AP has more details.  lgbtq+ health Young queer people in rural communities are more depressed, per report Last week, the Trump administration announced that it will remove the 988 hotline service specifically tailored to LGBTQ+ young people on July 17, almost three years since it started in September 2022. Today, a new report shows that in rural areas of the country, these populations are disproportionately struggling with mental health and community-building.  Here are a few of the notable findings from the research brief, published by Hopelab (a research and investing company focused on mental health among young, queer people of color) and Born This Way Foundation (founded by Lady Gaga and her mother):  Young LGBTQ+ people in rural areas are significantly more likely than their peers in suburban and urban areas to meet the threshold for depression (57% vs. 45% respectively).  Within rural communities, young queer people who receive support from the people they live with are less likely to have depression than those who receive little to no support (52% vs. 63%).  Young queer people in rural areas give and receive more support to each other online than people in suburban and urban areas do. Perhaps relatedly, they also report more loneliness than their suburban and urban peers.

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a stat investigation How bitcoin became a better bet for Semler Scientific Mike Reddy for STAT  At the most recent earnings call for Semler Scientific — a company that for almost two decades has marketed a single medical product to detect artery blockages in older Americans — chairman Eric Semler declared a surprising pivot: "We are a bitcoin-first company." After a large purchase of the cryptocurrency, Semler Scientific now claims to be the fourth-largest bitcoin treasury in the U.S. The company's adoption of a cryptocurrency strategy followed an escalating series of threats to its core business, suggesting that its long-running partnership with major health insurers was driven not by science or an enduring commitment to better health care, but by a singular desire to reach into a multibillion-dollar pot of federal money.  STAT's latest investigation is based on more than two dozen interviews with former employees of Semler Scientific and UnitedHealth, in addition to conversations with patients, financial analysts, former investors, and more. Reporters also reviewed hundreds of pages of corporate financial filings and other records. Read more from the same dream team that brought you Health Care's Colossus.  policy Former governors warn that Medicaid cuts would have dire consequences Former governors from both parties on Monday said they were deeply concerned with proposed cuts to Medicaid, the joint state-federal program that covers medical costs for people with low income or disabilities. "I don't have a problem with changes," said former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican. "The way they're doing it is awful." Sununu was joined by former democratic governors Roy Blunt of North Carolina and Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, who ran the federal health department during the Obama administration. During a panel at the Aspen Ideas: Health meeting, all three warned that $700 billion in Medicaid cuts passed by the House of Representatives would be disastrous. Blunt noted that, if enacted, the cuts would force states to make painful decisions to cover budgetary shortfalls, such as spending less on administering Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, which help low-income households buy food. Researchers have estimated Medicaid cuts could result in more than 16,600 preventable deaths a year. But they also say that's likely an undercount, and, as Daniel Payne reports, Senate Republicans are discussing ways to cut the program even further by sharply reducing federal payments for new beneficiaries. — Jonathan Wosen health Small study adds to evidence around GLP-1 use for type 1 diabetes Obesity drugs were first approved to treat type 2 diabetes, but there's a growing movement to test them in type 1 diabetes, too. Research presented Monday at a large diabetes meeting showed some promise for this approach, STAT's Liz Cooney reports. Patients who took a GLP-1 drug fared better than those in a control group at keeping their blood glucose levels in a healthy range while also losing more weight than those who weren't taking the drug. Read more from Liz about the results.  And in case you missed it, another recent story on the "what can't GLP-1 medications do" beat: STAT's Veronica Paulus wrote her first story for us about a small pilot study that found GLP-1 agonists reduced monthly migraine days by almost half.

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Correction: Yesterday's newsletter included the wrong link to Lizzy Lawrence's story on how, at the FDA, the administration's goals for "radical transparency" may be threatened by agency cuts. You can read that one here. What we're reading 'I feel like I've been lied to': When a measles outbreak hits home, New York Times The future of federal abortion data collection is unclear, The 19th Top drug regulator is retiring as FDA departures mount, STAT From the pandemic to porn, here's how norms around sex are shifting for Gen Z, NPR Novo Nordisk ends deal with Hims due to compounding concerns with obesity drugs, STAT

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Thanks for reading! More next time,

theresa.gaffney@statnews.com

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